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I see your point about banker material, as in nalied on short prices, so apologise for putting up For Non Stop in that respect. However, value aside, he is my banker of the meeting for a place at the very least.
But apart from stating the obvious…Sprinter Sacre and Quevega, ….what else can be banker material? Nothing is nailed on at Cheltenham….it’s all about what you fancy…My banker, is For Non Stop.
The way he slaughtered his field first time up at Aintree was impressive. He has been out of sorts on unsuitably heavy ground since, but will act on better ground, and he has clearly trained on after that reappearance. Throw into the mix a couple of the market leaders may not even go for the Ryanair, I can’t see him being out of the first three, even if they do.
He obviously goes well fresh as well and hasn’t run since Christmas, all adds up to a huge run for me.I think the new Channel 4 set up awful. Graham Cunningham is monotone and boring. In this technological day and age, why do we have watch his hand messing around with a computer screen? The runners and riders should be an automatic moving screen with commentary about each as they go. Can’t he keep up like John Francome and Simon Holt? Mick Fitzgerald, obviously only tips runners from the Henderson stable, hardly an objective look on each race, and his bellowing, grating voice hardly makes for easy listening.
Bring back Tommo, Francome, and even that sexist oaf Big Mac. Racing doesn’t get the audience it deserves, but will lose even more without these personalities that have escalated the profile of racing over the years, and have made it enjoyable to watch. It’s painful watching channel 4 racing at the moment.
Even my wife (who doesn’t even watch racing) said what the hell are you watching? Why has he got his hand all over the tv screen? So amateur, and even more so boring.With doubts about which race some of these actually go for (Cue Card, Sizing Europe, Finians Rainbow) For Non Stop 20/1 looking like one of the each way bets of the meeting.
Just read my last post again, and I was stating the blindingly obvious. What I mean is, they have an exciting prospect in MTOY who looks as though he could cope with the step up to champion level, but would they do that if Binocualr is firing at home?
It looks as though connections prefer sticking to the novice route for My Tent Or Yours. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that will happen.
If Binocular is not showing much at home, then he could well be switched last minute. If Binocular is the only one to show up in the Champion and MTOY runs in the novice, then could be a tip in itself as to Binocular’s well being.I backed Binocular some time ago, but the way events have turned out, at the prices, Rock On Ruby has done nothing wrong since becoming champion last March.
Can’t say I saw anything today that would enhance Zarkandar’s claims to win the Champion. Ok, he has won as a 1/3 chance should, but in all honesty, if Khyber Kim hadn’t landed on all four’s over the last two hurdles, it’s quite possible he could have beaten Zarkandar after 600 and however many days off the track. Clearly Zarkandar needs a sterner test or a quicker pace, but the fact Khyber Kim was going almost as well as him two from home, must say something.
This year’s race is becoming a bit of a conundrum, considering the doubts surrounding all the main protagonists…..
Was Rock On Ruby a fluke? Or is he that underrated?
Will Grandouet get there in one piece?
Is Hurricane Fly a small field Ireland bully and last year was an off day? Or is he the short price favourite he deserves to be?
Does Zarkandar need further, does he have the pace for this race?
Is Binocular the horse he was?
All things considered, if you take literal form through Khyber Kim, can Zarkandar beat an in form Binocular after Khyber Kim’s effort today after nearly two years off?
It’s a tragedy Darlan is not here, because he is starting to look like the good horse people were claiming, especially as now, Rock On Ruby is the one with the form in the book, against the good thing that is Hurricane Fly.It’s late, hope I don’t sound like I’m rambling!
With Henderson’s handling of Captain Conan last year, bypassing Cheltenham as he thought it was too soon for the horse, surely the Champion hurdle would be too soon for My Tent Or Yours? Why overface a novice, albeit after a mightily impressive performance, when it could run a big race against fellow novices. He hasn’t had a bombproof season by any means, it’s not like he has won every race on the bridle.
As good as he looked last time, he has still been beaten by his stablemate Chatterbox, who may not even run at the festival, as I read somehwere, the trainer thinks that one might not be ready for it this year.Yeah sorry, my mistake, was thinking when Punjabi beat him in the Champion…
Was just trying to say that not all Hendersons horses to get turned over in the Supreme have been hotpots….Only the mare and Binocular out of that list where hot favourites though….and Binocular wasn’t beaten that far…
Having already back My Tent Or Yours at 12/1 I’m fairly happy, but now he’s favourite, the stats concerning what has been mentioned and the favourites hoodoo in this race, I’m inclined to look for a saver elsewhere.
As My Tent Or Yours is the highest rated in the race, can we not assume that Chatterbox has just as good, if not better form? He beat MTOY in going that apparently was against him. Yet he still sluiced up in the Betfair on similar going. Chatterbox has come out and won again since, so if connections do opt to go to Cheltenham, he must have a serious form chance with the favourite?Although they blamed the ground when it got beat by Chatterbox, it certainly didn’t affect his performance on Saturday. With that in mind, how good is Chatterbox?
In all probability he could well have, but who’s to say Rock On Ruby wouldn’t have found more?
Darlan obviously had plenty of class, all I’m saying is he was a length down, up against a champion hurdler, and it’s possible he wouldn’t have beaten him.
Still very sad what happened.A totally different race and nothing in line up of the calibre of a current champion hurdler. I see your point of view, and clearly your opinion of Darlan is a high one, but my opinion is, we will never know what he might have found if he got to the other side.
To say that Darlan would have beaten Rock On Ruby by 3-4 lenghts is a bit of an assumption in my opinion. He was a good length down approaching the last, it’s a hurdles race and they need to be jumped, so depending on how the last hurdle was jumped would determine how well he was actually going. Noel Fehily said ROR was idling after being left in front, I actually think ROR still had enough left to hold Darlan off. How can anyone say how much Darlan would have found if he actually jumped to the other side? As tragic a moment as it was, nobody can actually say how good the horse was. He may well have cruised passed ROR, he may well have found nothing off the bridle and stayed a length down at the finish. Why speculate when you can only judge a horse on it’s merits, and ROR won the race? Unfortunately for connections, and also for race fans, we will never know how good he may or may not have been. But unfortunately for ROR, he will never be rated because there will always be a "what if" beside him.
